We present the second part of the suggestions from our readers to Narendra Modi. More will follow in the days to come.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday released the party's manifesto for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections promising to make efforts to ensure construction of Ram temple under constitutional provisions if voted to power.
Cabinet ministers and TV actors will try to bring to life the aeons-old story of Lord Ram at the 10-day-long Ramlila in New Delhi, which has been promised to be bigger than ever by its organisers.
The new idol of Lord Ram was placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi temple on Thursday afternoon, ahead of the January 22 consecration ceremony.
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
On seeing them, Gandhi got off his vehicle, walked up to them and shook hands with several people in the crowd.
If the BJP gets only 200 seats and wants to remain in power, Modi will have to make way -- either for a proxy of his choice, or for an internal rival, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The PM urged all citizens to light diyas in their houses on January 22 so that the whole country basks in glory.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
'During the nine years of BJP rule, not a single temple has been reconstructed.' 'They might have constructed the Ram temple as it is an emotional issue. But they are not much interested in issues like heritage.'
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
'When the Babri Masjid was demolished, we didn't take permission from anyone.'
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
In her first address to a joint sitting of the two Houses in the new Parliament building in which she touched on varied issues ranging from insurgency to inflation, Murmu said a country can progress at a fast pace only when it defeats the challenges of the past and puts maximum energy into building the future.
The former Union minister claimed the prime minister was batting for UCC to divert people's attention from issues of unemployment, price rise and hate crimes.
The main road that leads from Sitapur Road side to the airport has been decked up with several posters carrying images of Prime Minister Modi, and a welcome message.
Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
The Ram Mandir being constructed at Ayodhya is a temple of unity of the country and people from different faiths support it, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said in New Delhi on Sunday.
Seventy-seven MLAs were present in the assembly during the voting.
'The BJP has started a war-like situation against farmers and the Jat community.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party vs ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam battle over live telecast of the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration in Tamil Nadu shrines reached the Supreme Court on Monday, with the apex court asking the authorities to act in accordance with the law and not based on any oral instructions.
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
More than 3,000 gifts for Lord Ram from Sita's birthplace in Janakpur in Nepal have arrived in Ayodhya.
Invitees to the 'pran pratishtha' consecration ceremony at the Ram temple started arriving Sunday in Ayodhya -- once a sleepy town now resplendent with new infrastructure and gripped by heightened religious fervour on the eve of a seminal event in India's political and religious history.
The eagerness of locals and tourists in Ayodhya seems to have peaked with Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi reiterating that Wednesday will be the last day of hearings in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid land dispute case.
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
Anger cannot be an end in itself to Rahul Gandhi's politics -- it must instead catalyse a new political strategy, argues Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The foundation for the temple has now been filled with the final, 48th layer of roller-compacted concrete, temple trust members told reporters on Thursday.
In a statement, he said it is his belief that the Shri Ram Mandir will represent India as a strong, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation with justice for all and exclusion of none to truly usher in 'Ram Rajya, the epitome of good governance'.
'There is ample evidence to suggest that attacks on the PM's probity and his connections with business houses do not resonate with voters.'
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
An independent Muslim candidate has secured a surprise victory in a ward in the Hindutva nerve centre of Ayodhya in the civic election results declared on Saturday.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that after fulfilling Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise on Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, work has begun in Mathura and Vrindavan as well.
'Since God was being shown in live action on such a large scale, Prasanth was initially sceptical about going with an animated character.'
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
